The two APF members looked at the hulking mass of a man that was Lambert Sitz for a moment. Then, the shorter of the two's eyes widened in sudden understanding.
"You-you're the Masked Knight!"
The other APF member chuckled.
"Oh, come on. He's just an urban legend...right?"
As he spoke he seemed less certain.
The shorter of the two gazed up at the Masked Knight with the unmistakable face of a star-struck fan.
"Please, Mr. Masked Knight, our superior officer is heading towards the source of the Splinters. It's in the East Side, and it could be in the Soot District. If you could provide backup--"
The other soldier turned towards his companion.
"We can't go sending civilians in there, it's too dangerous!"
-MEANWHILE-
Ansa continued towards the source of the disturbance, leaping between foes with speed and grace and ending each with a swift blow. As she approached the Soot District, which she surmised to be the main source of the infestation, a giant shadow claw came out of nowhere, rushing into her peripheral vision. Ansa threw up her swords to block the blow, but the force of the attack knocked her away. Getting to her feet, she looked at the beast. Easily over ten feet tall, the Splinter was an absolute abomination, hunched over with its four arms dragging along the ground. It had a single, large green eye and its body was covered in shadowy spikes. The Splinter roared at her, its jaws snapping wildly. Ansa got into her fighting stance.

Kai was rifling around in the plane for the cigarette lighter that had fallen out of his pocket at some point mid-flight when he heard Weidr shouting something about coming to help him. Good, thought Kai, he was still here.

“Hey Weedr, you gonna be anywhere near the Palace of Wings? The chicken joint, not the magic castle. Because I am starving."

Kai found the lighter and lit the cigarette hanging from his mouth before sticking his head out to speak to Weidr. Now Kai saw what the Eriginian was shouting about. Three large splinters were approaching the Lower Avalon airfield in which he’d landed, and he could see more behind them.

Kai’s cigarette fell out of his mouth as his eyes darted around to establish his options. In front of him, the Soot District, which Weidr looked about to bound off into to fight the approaching enemies. To his left, the abyss. To his right, a large gateway leading to Upper and Middle Avalon, with a throng of people forming around it.

“You say you wanted help with that? Because uh, I’ve got a paying job, and you’ve got a paying job, and this one ain’t mine.”

Just then, Kai heard a sound behind him, and turned to see the rustling of a splinter approaching, crawling at him on six jagged limbs. Kai gave a yelp of surprise and fear before pulling out his pistol and firing three shots at the creature.

It appeared to be armored, and the bullets only slowed it down a bit. Kai sneezed, then started slowly backing toward the gateway as another splinter, this one a long, centipede-like creature with enormous pincers crawled toward him up over his plane. He held out his left hand as if to threaten the creatures, but they kept approaching him.

“Don’t make me use this!” he shouted “seriously, you don’t want to--"

Suddenly the six-legged splinter leapt up into the air and unfolded two sets of wide, leathery wings.

“What? You bastard! You got no right!”

Kai thrusted his bandage-wrapped left hand at the splinter as it divebombed toward him. There was a loud popping sound and suddenly a crack of what sounded like thunder, then Kai pulled his arm sharply backward and the creature was blown apart in a fiery blast.

Kai turned and ran toward the gate to Upper Avalon, shouting to Weidr as he went.

Weidr turned to see Kai running off toward Upper Avalon. "Drop to the surface!" he swore after him. One against three. He'd had worse. But then again, in the cases that were worse, he hadn't already been spotted. Two Cs and a B. He could probably get two shots off before they closed the gap. One of the Cs began to shapeshift, beginning to run on all fours. Its back legs broke outwards, and its head shifted to resemble more of a tiger's. Its speed drastically increasing, it pulled ahead of the others.

Weidr took the first arrow and set it to the seithr string. The crystal arrowhead began to glow blue, and the runes on the iron shaft appeared. He's only a C class. I'll use a fairly low tension, Weidr thought. Pulling back the arrow, he took careful aim, and let loose.

The arrow shot forward like a thunderbolt, striking the splinter almost instantly. It passed through the beast's head and out from between its shoulderblades. A small crater of impact was left where the arrow had struck. The beast tripped, tumbled, and laid still. That's one.

The B class stopped and stood still, watching Weidr cautiously. The second C class continued charging at him, and its right arm changed into a blade. Leaping up, it raised the blade high over its head. Weidr quickly changed his bow back to a staff and caught the splinter on it. Slamming the splinter to the ground and cracking its chest, he leapt on top of it and drew his hunting knife. He slit the creatures throat in one swift motion. Two.

The B class began to shapeshift as well. Its head sunk into its shoulders and its forearms shifted into what looked like large guns. Seithr began to concentrate in its arms. Ducking behind a nearby building, Weidr narrowly avoided the first blast. A wave of pure seithr shot past him and took out a part of the corner he hid behind. One direct hit and it's over, he thought. He quickly turned and dashed into the building.

Ansa slid beneath the Splinter's swinging claws and dodged to the left as the beast charged forward. She shot a few ice blasts from Apathy, which seemed to have little effect on the beast's shadowy hide. Ansa barely had time to raise up her blades as the beast attacked again, stretching its front two claws to strike at Ansa's face. As the Splinter made contact, it wrapped its claws around Ansa's blades like rubber and tightened its grip, threatening to rip the swords away. Ansa smiled thinly.
"Big mistake."
Blades of ice shot from Zeal and Apathy, lacerating the Splinter's hands. Squealing wildly, the Splinter reared back and darted into the shadows, vanishing from view. Ansa hurried on. In the distance, she saw a large Splinter firing blasts of seithr at a barricade. Presumably someone up ahead was taking shelter.

"Understood, take care of the lady. I'll head out and assist the captain" Lambert nodded. Taking a racer stance, the Masked Knight shot forward like a bullet. As he sped through the streets, time seemed to slow down and he heard the echoed screams of the panicked people of the slums. He could hear them all. There were so many of them and he wouldn't be able to reach them all.

He could feel sweat on his brow and his hands clamp up. Damn it, getting to their squad leader was the best course of action. It was the smartest move. He couldn't waste time going from shadow to shadow. However the destruction, what he could see of it in the corner of his eyes. Bodies which littered the muddy waters of the concrete walls, causing them to mix in with blood.

When he got to the captain he could figure out the best way to go. Less time, less bodies. Everything would go fine once he got to the Soot District.

Smoke district, Ash district, Mud district, he was going too slow. He had to get there quickly. There were too many bodies. Too much blood, not enough help. The APF was too thinned out. He could only see a few members for every splinters. Where the hell were the knights? Protecting the fat cats of the higher regions no doubt, leaving us meeker folks to fend for ourselves.

Kai ran up to the crowd of people gathering around the gate to Upper and Middle Avalon and began pushing his way through to the front. Once there however, he saw two Kingdom Guard agents holding the people back with their shields, expanded into five-foot radius force-fields.

“What’s going on here?” asked Kai

“Lower Avalon’s been quarantined for the safety of the city,” replied the officer. “Orders from the Palace. Please stay back.”

“Safety of the -- safety of what city! Middle Avalon? Upper Avalon? Damn well ain’t for this city!”

Shouts of agreement surrounded Kai. He looked back at the crowd, and several of them seemed to expect him to continue speaking.

“Oh! Uh, and no surprise that is! These guys come down from their magic castle saying they’re here for our benefit! Only reason anyone at the Palace of Wings ever cared about us in the Lower Rings is so they can rob us!”

More cheers of agreement.

“Sir, we’re going to have to ask you to--"

“And ain’t that what it is? Robbery! How do they make their fortunes without us running their factories! How do they live in luxury without us working the docks! They can’t so much as feed themselves without taking the food out of our mouths!”

One of the Kingdom Guard agents grabbed Kai by the shoulder.

“Sir, we’re going to have to ask you to leave.”

“Leave? What, to go get et by monsters? You’d have all of us do that, wouldn’t you? Wouldn’t you!”

The crowd jeered at the officers. One of the Guards grabbed Kai from behind, holding his arms behind him. The other took out a communicator.

“We’re gonna need backup at the Derren’s Alley Gate. We got quarantine breakers as well as--"
Just then the man was struck on the head with a rock, thrown from the crowd. He drew his rifle and pointed it at the crowd, met with screams of fear. Two more rocks struck the Guard and he fired into the crowd in response. A throng of splinters was closing in, and rather than flee and disperse the crowd surged at the Guard, overpowering him and grabbing his rifle. He popped his force field again and was pushed back against the gate into a corner by the mob, who began kicking at and stomping the shield, crushing the man under it. The other officer dropped Kai and took up his own gun, but was shot in the arm by someone in the crowd before being grabbed. Kai leapt up onto the gate.

“It’s thievery, and now it’s murder! And I’ll tell you what else it is! It’s bullshіt! The means of production belong to the workers! The right to rule can come only from the consent of the ruled! This status quo is maintained only by violent oppression! Take back what’s ours!”

The splinters were closing in on their side of the gate, and it wouldn’t be long before the Kingdom Guard arrived at the other side. The people in the back of the crowd seemed ready to turn and fight, and many were armed with guns and familiars, but the rest were watching Kai.

“Starting with this gate! Men. Women. Children. I’m Kai Fishwash, and I’m no captain or king. I’m just a guy. I’m a common man like all of us. But as a common man I implore you in the name of all that is natural and just...”

Kai watched the splinters come closer. He looked up at the gate, then back at the crowd. In his elevated position on the gate, no one could see the glint of panic in his eyes.

What a grisly scene. This house used to be a home. Two splinter bodies lay strew across the floor, one with bullet holes, and another with burns all over what used to be its face. That didn't bother Weidr. It was the five human bodies and the dwarf's. Mangled and slashed apart. Most had tried to flee, and only one of the humans fought. Two men, a woman, two children, and the dwarf. It wasn't the first time Weidr had seen the result of a splinter massacre. However, he could only imagine it was like this throughout Lower Avalon. The thought made him shudder. Stepping over the body in the hall, he made his way to a window to get a better look at the splinter outside. It seemed to have developed eyes all around its head. OH--

Weidr leapt to the side as the splinter fired a shot, taking out the window and its frame. Thankfully, the house wasn't quite on the ground, so that the beast couldn't enter from there. Ok, so I can't sneak up on it. At least, not without a distraction. It was only a matter of time until it figured out how to enter the house. Weidr noticed the emergency call communicator by the door. He ran to it and activated it. The signal was static. No help there. The splinters probably tore out the system in their rampage. Wait, Kai could just create a distraction. He took out his own communicator and attempted to call Kai The signal was static. Wait, how? There must be some kind of interference. This whole thing is wrong. Splinters in the wrong place, an unprecedented incursion, a storm blocking signals.

A blast through the window reminded Weidr of his situation. Dashing up the stairs, he looked around for something that could create a distraction. Chair. Table. Light. Candle. Bottle of booze. Mirror. Table. Candle. Chair. Mirror. Light. Light.Mirror.Mirror. Light. All he needed was a window of glass, and a window of opportunity. Moving as quietly as he could, he removed the mirror from the wall and brought it down the stairs. Carefully placing it at the bottom, he pointed it to reflect toward the creature and the ceiling above. Moving back upstairs, he cut a small hole in the roof over the mirror. He brought the light to the hole and readied an arrow.

One. Two. Three.

Weidr flipped the lamp on and dashed to the window. The creature screamed and he felt the shot blast through the first floor. Gotta make this count. Pulling back hard, he aimed the arrow at the head and let fly. It blasted through the creature's head, taking most of it off with the bolt. The creature staggered, wavered, and fell. That's three.

Weidr looked out of the now-shattered window toward the city. Most of it was in smoking ruins, though there was a large mass of people and splinters near the gate, which seemed to be mostly intact. Then he saw it. Off in the distance, an enormous splinter. At least fifteen meters tall, beyond even the class A's he'd seen before. A giant insectoid creature, with six huge legs and an upper body rising up in front of those, with two giant claws. It looked to be fixated on something on the ground, though the buildings were crumbling around it.

This is much bigger than I could have imagined. This can't be a random splinter incursion. This is an attack on lower Avalon.

Just then, he noticed a woman wielding two sword-like familiars running toward the Class B splinter's body. She bent down to inspect the body. "Hey, you!" he shouted out. "What are you doing here? Are you out of your mind?" He quickly notched a normal arrow and aimed it at her.

Ansa looked up at the man who currently had her in his sights. She raised her sword up and pointed it at him.
"I'm with the Avalon Protection Force! What are YOU doing here?! All civilians should be headed out of Lower Avalon at the Derren's Alley or Watchrow Gate, or taken to an APF Safehouse!"
-MEANWHILE-
Aeolus strolled down the pristine marble road that led to Gestahd, the innermost ring of upper Avalon. In the distance, the Palace of Wings towered overhead. A group of Kingdom Guard ran past him, shouting into their walkie-talkies.
"Respond! Respond! Damn it, the Lower Avalon signal is still down! Backup is needed at Derren's Alley Gate, there's severe resistance!"
Aeolus grinned as the Kingdom Guards passed him by.
"Not bad, kid."
He whipped out his phone and dialed a number.
"Pumice? Whatever you did to the Lower Avalon communications network worked like a charm. These fυckers don't know what hit 'em."

When the mob emerged at Haven Park in Upper Avalon, Kai leapt up onto the elevated base of a statue of King Sargon II, who had built the Palace of Wings after the ascension. Sargon was holding a sword in his back hand, and in his other hand he held aloft a scroll that read “THE LAWS OF AVALON.”

“We’re gonna have to hold this position if we wanna be safe from those splinters,” yelled Kai.

“Kai Fishwash, good to meet you. Can you take charge of defending the causeway to Lower Avalon? We need to keep those splinters back.”

“I'll do it.”

“You’re a real hero, Harkaras. And you, uh...” Kai pointed at a human woman armed with a chain gun, taken from one of the Guardsmen they had overtaken on the causeway.

“Reia Lars.”

“Reia, can you take charge of securing the perimeter? We’re lucky this park has high walls, but we need them to keep the Kingdom Guard out. I think the tops might be set up so they can be electrified. Dunno. But the lance familiars we picked up from those Guardsmen on the way here can be--”

“--converted into anti-airship artillery with a seither coil, I know. I’m on top of it, kid.”

“Great, that is just great, thanks.”

Harkaras and Reia began organizing people to help them with their respective tasks. Kai looked up at the bronze Sargon who was posing dramatically beside him.

“How you doing?”

Getting no response, Kai jumped down from the statue.

“Who’s wounded? I know some first aid for until we can find us a doctor.”